Ways to Support

The Ethnic Inclusion Effort for Iowa Engineering is designed to build and nourish the College’s community, recruit ethnically diverse students who are prepared for technical careers upon graduation, and to conduct outreach to ethnically diverse communities geographically connected to The University of Iowa. With Ethnic Inclusion, the College of Engineering has reaffirmed the University’s rich history and commitment to diversity by working to foster excellence in engineering education for students of varying ethnic, gender, and economic backgrounds.

Thanks to Ethnic Inclusion, the UI College of Engineering has seen strong gains in graduate enrollment among ethnically diverse students. The college has leveraged new partnerships with GEM (Graduate Degrees in Engineering and Sciences) and has been awarded a US DOED GAANN (United States Department of Education Graduate Assistance with the Areas of Natural Need) grant to support graduate education.

The college seeks to build on this success and momentum with a renewed concentration on introducing high school students of underrepresented ethnic groups (African American, Hispanic, and Native American) to engineering careers and preparation for engineering and science. We have developed a program with SECME (formerly known as Southeastern Conference for Minority Engineering) Davenport and hold monthly meetings with minority students who are interested in science and engineering.

The college is seeking to build on the promising beginnings of the new Ethnic Inclusion program by asking major midwestern corporations and companies to be leading sponsors of this new initiative. We are seeking annual general operating funds to build our program components; for example, we would like to be able to fund graduate fellowships so students can help staff carry out the core Ethnic Inclusion work of recruitment, campus visits, promotional materials and web site development, and outreach to ethnically diverse communities for recruiting, summer programing, and tutoring. Put simply, we are eager to partner with companies who share our vision of a highly-educated, talented, productive, and diverse pool of engineering graduates – prepared to serve the goals of your company.

Here are a few of the partnership opportunities for you to consider:

Experiential Learning – Co-ops, Internships
The College’s Co-op and Internship Program creates partnerships among students, the College, and employers by facilitating the development of institutionally supervised engineering related field experiences. These co-op and internship experiences further professional growth for the student, create an influx of the latest theoretical knowledge and technology to the employer, and serve as a primary tool for recruitment and career development. The close interaction of employer, student and the College enables our students to include professional experience in their engineering education, a primary goal of the College. Find out more information>>

Employee Recruiting
Engineering Professional Development is a comprehensive career services office within the College of Engineering that serves students and alumni of the College of Engineering. Professional staff members are available to help students--first year through graduate--acquire skills which will allow them to choose and attain personally rewarding careers, through exploration of career direction and the development of job search skills. Find out more information>>

Scholarships
Ethnic Inclusion corporate partners use student scholarships as a way of identifying potential talent, informing students of career opportunities with the firm, and rewarding students who may have successfully performed a co-op experience, internship, or project. In many cases, scholarship recipients have committed to full-time employment with a company upon graduation. Find out more information>>

Site Field Trips
Ethnic Inclusion corporate partners often host field trips for students and faculty. The experience provides College participants with first-hand knowledge of a variety of business and industrial environments. Trips usually last from a half-day to an entire day

Mentors for Students
The College has established close relationships with business leaders who are both alumni and non-alumni and have agreed to be available to mentor students about their careers.

Student Design Projects
In the increasingly competitive global market, the ability to work in multidisciplinary teams and projects is among the most important traits of emerging new engineers. In response to the need, The Program of Enhanced Design Experience was created. The Program for Enhanced Design Experience (PEDE) exposes students in a team-based setting to solve real-world industrial problems. The program is a joint effort between The University of Iowa College of Engineering and industrial firms to enhance the design experience of undergraduate students at The University of Iowa. The program goals are to expose senior undergraduate students to engineering design by having the students work closely with engineers from industry on a design for a product that is scheduled for production. In addition, the College and its departments provide shorter, several-week or semester-long senior design projects as well. Find out more information>>

Corporate Guest Lectures, Seminars
Ethnic Inclusion partner executives are called upon frequently to present lectures and seminars to students and faculty in the College. The speaking events enable an exchange of ideas and a better understanding among students of the value of engineering and technology in a broad cross-section of industries. The College has a specially-designed Business Visitors Center to accommodate visiting Ethnic Inclusion executives as a place to prepare for class as well as a location to conduct business away from their corporate office.

Equipment, Gift-in-Kind Support
Many Ethnic Inclusion corporate partners often donate equipment and other gift-in-kind products and services that are used in the classroom and laboratories. This gives students an opportunity to experience equipment and products first-hand and keeps the College up to date on state-of-the-art tools used in business and industry.